surpass us in natural color perceptions. If color is the one thing in which we are deficient and in which we are making no advance, is it not necessary that we adopt a new line of operations for our color instruction in the primary grades? It is self-evident that in primary work highest art is not expected in either literature, music, drawing or painting, but as has been the aim in literature for a long time and in drawing and music more recently, so in coloring, our instruction should be based on those principles on which highest art must rest.

When through the introduction of colored papers in the kindergartens and primary schools the teachers began to call for better assortments of colors in their papers than were to be found in the market, and some of us in the field attempted to meet their wants, the solution of the problem seemed almost a hopeless task, because no two wanted the same colors; each teacher was a law to herself and one thought a color "just lovely" which another declared "perfectly horrid." According to the early theories then in vogue the first colors called for were red, yellow and blue for primaries, but no two persons were sure just what they wanted for either of these, and there was no authority to be referred to for a decision.

In this strait, which was practically a serious difficulty, the artists were appealed to for a decision as to the three "primary colors," and also for examples showing in what proportions the "ideal primaries" must be mixed to produce the "ideal secondaries." But in this there was no satisfaction because hardly two agreed in the primaries and necessarily the secondaries were much less definite, which was the result that should have been expected.

It is a self-evident proposition that if two indefinite primaries are combined in indefinite proportions the possible secondaries which may thus be produced must be exceedingly numerous, and if this idea is carried out in the production of tertiaries by the combination of the secondaries the resulting colors may be almost infinite. In view of the indifference of the artists and the popular ignorance regarding the subject the solution of this question and the discovery of any solid basis on which to formulate a system of elementary color instruction seemed very problematical. But after much experimenting and many conferences with artists and scientists a basis for operation was decided upon and at the end of fifteen years the efforts begun in doubt have resulted in a definite system of color instruction which it is the purpose of this book to concisely set forth.

It is prepared in response to inquiries from primary school teachers for a clear and condensed explanation of the Bradley System of Color Instruction. The aim is to offer a definite scheme and suitable material for a logical presentation of the truths regarding color in nature and art to the children of the primary schools. Much of this instruction is so simple that it should be familiar to children who have had kindergarten training and has therefore already been explained in substantially the same form in "Color in the Kindergarten."

A few years ago it might well have been thought necessary to preface a treatise on the subject with arguments to prove that color is a legitimate object for school instruction, but today this is not a question with thoughtful educators, whether considered from the practical, industrial or æsthetic standpoint. With the establishment of professorships of practical psychology and the equipment of laboratories, provided with delicate and expensive apparatus for making and recording tests, there comes with increasing force the demand for some means by which the experiments in color made in various localities may be unified both as to the colors used and the terms and measurements for recording the result. It is the hope of the author that the system here outlined may be the initial step in gathering together such facts regarding color effects as will form a fund of knowledge little dreamed of at the present day.

The Theory of Color.

In order to place the study of color on a broad and safe foundation, the work must commence at the bottom with a rational presentation of the subject, based on experiments and the use of color material. We must intelligently consider the relation that exists between the pure science of light which is the source of all color and the use of color materials with their effect on our color perceptions. While it is true in all study that there is here and there found a natural genius in some line of work who seems to have such inborn perceptions as to require little or no logical instruction in his special line, it is also manifest that the masses must gain their knowledge through a systematic presentation of the subject, if they secure it at all. Therefore with the growth of modern pedagogics the laboratory work of the psychologist has become a necessity. This consists in collecting and tabulating the results of hundreds and thousands of experiments regarding any subject under investigation, and the averaging of these to form theories and laws. In making these experiments there must be standards and measurements on which they may be based and some nomenclature in which to make the records; and the standards, measurements and nomenclature adopted must be common to those who desire to compare their results made in different places at different times.

From the results of many physical experiments properly measured and recorded certain psychological theories are deduced. These experiments are tried on hundreds and thousands of individuals and the average results establish the theories, which will ultimately stand or fall according to the truth and accuracy with which the experiments have been made. Experiments are useless for formulating any exact theories unless they can be recorded in some generally accepted terms for comparison with other experiments made under similar conditions and recorded in the same terms.

So in color perceptions it is not necessary that we know anything of the theories of color in order to see colors, and if endowed by nature with a natural genius for color, education in color may not be necessary, but if there is to be education in color which can be transmitted to a second party there must be some standards of colors and some measurement of color effects which can be recorded in accepted terms.

Why Artists and Scientists Have Disagreed.

In the realm of art there is no necessity for any purely scientific analysis of sunlight, which is the origin of natural colors, because all the practical value of color is found in its æsthetic effects on the mind, and in order to enjoy these even in the highest degree it is not necessary that we understand the scientific origin of the colors, any more than it is necessary for the artist to know the chemical composition of his pigments in order to produce best effects with them on his canvas. Because of this almost self-evident fact, artists have as a rule been very impatient when any reference has been made to the science of color in connection with color education, believing that color is an exception to the general subjects of study to such a degree that it lies outside of all scientific investigations. Consequently they have not been in sympathy with the physio-psychological investigations which have been prosecuted with such promising results in other lines, when such investigations have been proposed regarding color. While it is not essential for best results in his own work that